Marcos says family's wealth 'not ill-gotten' 

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday defended the assets acquired by his family, saying winning some civil cases over the years shows those were “not ill-gotten wealth.”

The President said this during a luncheon hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), where he was asked for updates regarding settling the estate tax of his family, being a co-executor of the estate left by his late father, former president Ferdinand Marcos.

“The reason we won those civil cases is because they were proven to be not ill-gotten wealth. To characterize that as ill-gotten wealth, immediately I have to respond and to say---kaya nga kami nanalo dahil napatunayan namin na hindi ito ill-gotten wealth (we won precisely because we proved that this was not ill-gotten wealth),” Marcos said.

He also disclosed that he has “neglected” some of his duties as co-executor of his father's estate because he has been “very busy with all the things a President is busy with.”

“When it comes to prioritization for the things that I spend time with, and I focus on, this is a family matter. The matters of state and governance are a thousand times more important than any family matter—in fact, 113 million times more important than any family matter,” he added.

Marcos said that he has now left the matter to his family’s lawyers.

He also advised the journalist who asked the question to direct inquiries to his legal advisors.

“I hear about it in passing, but I don't really sit in on meetings, and I don’t really concern myself with that so much. I believe that I have some very good legal advisors, and I leave it up to them. First of all, I’m not a lawyer, so that legal advice is not something that I fully understand,” he said.

In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the family of late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. owed P23 billion in estate tax. The decision became final and executory in 1999.

The amount has ballooned to P203 billion due to non-payment and interest, according to retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio. —LDF, GMA News